Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama said on Friday that the border between Kosovo and his country should be removed.

Speaking at a meeting of the governments of Albania and Kosovo, Rama said Tirana and Pristina will work to enable border control in real time and “finally the opening of borders”. He added that the Adriatic port of Duress will be a strategic port for both Albania and Kosovo. He added that the Pristina-Tirana digital corridor will be built for 5G technology.  

Rama’s words drew a reaction later in the day from Serbian Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin who said accused Rama of trying to create a Greater Albania which, according to him, the European Union would say nothing against.  

Vulin used a derogatory name for Albanians and said that officials from Tirana and Pristina “keep repeating the lie that Greater Albania is the natural Albania and that all Serbs living in one state are a threat to peace”. He said that Greater Albania is an announcement of disaster and the breakup of states and nations in the Balkans, adding that only united Serbs can stop that. “The sooner we unite institutionally, the sooner a time of peace will begin in the Balkans,” he said.